Linguistic context lets listeners understand speech at lower acoustic intelligibility

Evidence

The direct component is important because it carries the information in the signal in an uncontaminated form. Therefore a high level of direct sound is required for a clear sound and good intelligibility of speech. The direct sound also behaves in the same way as sound in free space, because it has not yet interacted with any boundaries. This means that we can use the equation for the intensity of a free space wave some distance from the source Figure 6. — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1729 (#qualifies, via linked claim)

Speech intelligibility in noise is strongly influenced by the relative level of the target compared to that of the noise, referred to as signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). High SNRs lead to better speech recognition than low SNRs. But, although SNRs can take infinite values, it is not the case for speech intelligibility. Some SNR floors and ceilings must exist, such that intelligibility would not be influenced by varying the SNR above or below these limits. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 3538 (#qualifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Signal degradation delays semantic integration and raises listening effort — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 3951; Semantic knowledge helps listeners interpret degraded speech signals; Speech perception resolves word candidate competition before a decision is made (+10 more)

Broader Connections

• Nonsense-syllable tests measure intelligibility by stripping away language-level prediction #corroborates (0.85)
• Direct sound carries signal information uncontaminated and governs speech intelligibility #qualifies (0.78) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1729
• Speech intelligibility saturates beyond certain signal-to-noise ratio bounds. #qualifies (0.75) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 3538
• Hearing aid algorithms distort auditory cues yet still improve speech understanding #corroborates (0.75) — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1777
• Volume compression worsens speech intelligibility by flattening syllabic amplitude cues #complicates (0.72) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 2492